The Pogona, bearded agam

 If you have read my previous article here you could see that I had already spoken quickly about this animal. Today he is the king, this blog will be entirely dedicated to him.

This lizard is very appreciated in terrariophily, a lot of terrariophiles have started with this animal. Indeed its maintenance is relatively simple compared to other species it is also very sociable with humans which makes it an excellent partner.
I will first introduce it to you and then I will explain how to maintain it and take care of it.

 

• Life span : 8 to 10 years

• Size : 50cm approximately

Where does he live ?

It is always important to know the biotope of the animal that we want to welcome, the pogona lives in semi-arid areas, mainly in Australia. It hides under shrubs to regulate its temperature. Its large claws allow it to climb on trees or in rocky areas.

desert pogona

What does it eat?

Its diet will vary during its life, juvenile its diet will be composed of 80% insects and 20% plants. The more your pognoa will grow the more the % of insects will decrease, at the adulthood its diet will be reversed, that is to say 80% of plants and 20% of insects.

For the insects you can give him crickets, locusts, grasshoppers and for the plants dandelions, cabbage leaves, parsley, celery, cucumber.

You can also complete his diet with calcium and vitamin supplements, to strengthen his immune system, his bones and help his growth.

What equipment?

You will have to change its terrarium size, if you install a juvenile pogona in its final terrarium it will tend to stress because it will not feel safe, so you will have to install it in a 50x50 cm terrarium and then move it to a mini 1m20 terrarium when it will be adult.

In the terrarium you will need one or more hiding places, branches so that it can climb and approach the hot spot, a bowl for food to avoid that it ingests substrate and a watering hole.

For the heating and the lighting I make you an explanatory list of the elements which you will need:

    UV lamp, the uv are obligatory so that the calcium present in its food is assimilated.

    a spot heater that you will place on one side of the terrarium with a cage around it to avoid burns, the hot spot will have to be at 40-45° you will be able to adjust it with a thermostat.

    a heating mat, it is not compulsory if your ambient temperature allows to maintain the cold point at 20-25°.

 

Don't forget to turn off the UV lamp and the spot heater at night.

 

You are now ready to welcome your reptile, if you have any other questions don't hesitate to send an email to info@terraled.fr.


See you soon Baptiste.